Railway signal



J. WiCKELAND RAILWAY SIGNAL v Filed Dec. 15. 1926 J72 ven'for' JfiannZJZk/reland Patented Feb. 7, 1928 1 1 UNITED mm .rona'nn WICKELAND, orBLUMEIlTHAL, GERMANY.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Application filed December 15, 1926, Serial No. 154,878, and in GermanyFebruary 16, 1925.

This invention relates to a railway signaling device and consists in theprovision of a stationary search-light and of reflectors arranged in theengine so as to catch the light- 5 rays and illuminate the driverscabwith the same. I

The search-light is preferably suspended over the track and providedwith means for throwing light perpendicularly on to the 1 track aswellas obliquely thereto. By this arrangement a repetition of signals willbe obtained which cannot fail toattract the drivers attention.

Fig. l of the accompanying drawings represents a side view of thesearch-light arrangement,

Fig. 2, a view at right angles toFig. 1, Fig. 3, a view showing theeffect on the en ine of the vertical light-rays,

ig. 4, a view showing the eflect ofoblique light-rays on an advancingengine, and

Fig. 5, a View showing the efl'ect of oblique rays on an engine whichhas passed the search-light.

Erected at the sideof the railway track I) is a mast 0 having an arm atwhich overhangs the track so that it can be used as a means forsuspending a search-light a over the.

track at a suificient height above the latter 80 for being clear ofthetraflic. The railway engine 9 is provided witha suitable arrange mentof reflectors adapted to catch the rays of the search-light andilluminate the drivers cab therewith asa warning to the driver.

The searchlight a consists of a double pro.- jector containin projectorcomprising light beam pro ectors e and 6' arranged at an angle to eachother. The projector e is disposed to project a light 40 beamperpendicularly straight down onto the railway track while the projector6' 1s disposed to project an oblique beam downwar'dly onto the track inthe direction of the track.

ble projector arrangement described it will be'seen, p r strikes thereflector an incident light flash will be reflected into the cab, one ofthe flashes being short and followed by the other and longer one, orvice versa, according to .the direction oftravelof the locomotivealongthe track or the arrangement of the a' source of light f, said Byreason of the oblique reflector and douprojector elements as desiredwith respect to up and down traveldirections. These signal his trainunder control before the short flashis given, which may be a warning ata certain distance from the station that at this point the train speed,if not reduced below normal running speed, should be reduced to acertain speed; or the short flash may first be given as a caution orwarning signal followed by the long flash which may be of such durationas to obviate the possibility of the engineer ignoring it if he hasignored the short signal. Of course, the signals may be given othersignificancies and by disposing the projector e to project the obliquebeam so as to strike the reflecting mirror at any given distance fromthe mast the length? of the beamand time duration'of the long flash maybe varied as desired.

Fig. 3 shows an engine reflector h arranged so as to catch theperpendicular lightrays for illuminating the cab. Fig. 4 shows areflector 11 for dealing with oblique rays thrown against an advancingtrain, and Fig. 5, areflector k which catches oblique. rays receivedfrom behind the engine. repetition of signals may be given to ensure thedrivers attention, and both signals may bright white light, strongenough to penetrate a fog, may be used as a stop signal, and a colouredlight may be used to indicate that the line is clear. also, that eachtime a light beam.

I claim:' g

In a railway signaling device, a locomotive carrying alight reflectorarranged at an oblique angle hetweenthe vertical and horizontal forreflectinglig'ht beams from a relative lyelevate'd external source intothe cab thereof, and signal projecting means comprising Thus a I a mastalongside the track, an arm extending from the mast and overhanging thetrack, and a double projector on said arm and above the track andcomprising a pair 5 of projectors arranged for casting light beams at anangle to each other, one vertically down upon the track and the otherobliquely downward in a direction longitudinally of the track so as tobe intercepted by said light reflector to respectively reflectrelatively short and long flashes from said beams into the cab in thetravel of the locomotive along the track.

I J OHANN WICKELAND.

